CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The DuPage County Sheriff said he will expand the use of medications meant to help inmates kick drug addiction.
Following a lawsuit alleging he prevented jail inmates from receiving addiction-fighting medications, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said in an interview Friday that not only does he support the use of those medications, but he intends to expand their availability.
A judge tossed out the lawsuit filed by inmate Christine Finnigan, which alleged that she was not allowed to continue her methadone treatment while she served served 30 days in the county jail for an alcohol-related DUI. Methadone is an opioid-based medication that blocks cravings for drugs like heroin and OxyContin and lessens the chance of an overdose.
The inmate eventually received the treatment.
Mendrick told the Tribune that contrary to the lawsuit’s claims, the disagreement was about process, not ideology: He has no problem with methadone or its pharmaceutical cousin, buprenorphine, and wants to make them more available for inmates.
Mendrick said 80 percent of inmates enter the jail with an addiction, often with mental health issues to boot. The usual route is to put them through detox, then work on everything from anger management to vocational training.
Medication hasn’t usually been part of the treatment plan, but Mendrick said he's working with the DuPage County health department to create a buprenorphine program for inmates. That would put the DuPage lockup among a small, but growing number of jails to offer the medication.
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